Computing device

ABSTRACT

A five product gasoline dispensing system having a cost counter for accumulating the cost of gasoline dispensed, five banks of price switches for the five gasoline products respectively settable for pre-establishing the amount of each place of the unit volume price for the respective product within a three place price range, a selector for selectively conditioning the system for dispensing each of the gasoline products and for activating the corresponding switch bank for establishing the unit volume price, and a pulse generating device adapted to generate pulse trains for the three places of the unit volume price having 5, 50, and 500 pulses respectively for each unit volume of a gasoline dispensed. A control circuit is operated by each pulse to preset a binary predetermining counter at the binary complement of the setting of the respective price switch and an oscillator is gated to index the predetermining counter from its preset count to a maximum count and simultaneously index the cost counter such that for each unit volume of gasoline dispensed the amounts of the three places of the established price are added to the cost counter 5, 50, and 500 times.

United States Patent Johnston 51 July 18,1972

[s4] COMPUTING DEVICE [72] Inventor: Reed 11. Johmton, Wellesley, Mass.

[73] Assignee: Veeder Industries, Inc., Hartford, Conn.

[22] Filed: Aug. 17, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 64,337

[52] U.S. Cl ..235/92 FL, 235/92 R, 235/92 PE,

Primary Examiner-Daryl W. Cook Assistant Examiner- Robert F. GnuseAttorney-Prutzman, Hayes, Kalb & Chilton ABSTRACT A five productgasoline dispensing system having a cost counter for accumulating thecost of gasoline dispensed, five banks of price switches for the fivegasoline products respectively settable for pre-establishing the amountof each place of the unit volume price for the respective product withina three place price range, a selector for selectively conditioning thesystem for dispensing each of the gasoline products and for activatingthe corresponding switch bank for establishing the unit volume price,and a pulse generating device adapted to generate pulse trains for thethree places of the unit volume price having 5, 50, and 500 pulsesrespectively for each unit volume of a gasoline dispensed. A controlcircuit is operated by each pulse to preset a binary predeterminingcounter at the binary complement of the setting of the respective priceswitch and an oscillator is gated to index the predetermining counterfrom its preset count to a maximum count and simultaneously index thecost counter such that for each unit volume of gasoline dispensed theamounts of the three places of the established price are added to thecost counter 5, 50, and 500 times.

19 Claim, 1 Drawing figure 1/ VOLUME fi x,- 7/ M m at a a U W GATE M i lL l din L1: 11%]: H4 H5) H7 57 U7 U7 {iii-1H5? 5 11 I PRESET CIRCUIT A a:El: El e am a Y! 72 52 7472 @5153 M9 ow 15 i 72 GENERATOR COMPUTINGDEVICE BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates tocomputing devices having notable utility in gasoline dispensing systemsfor computing the cost of gasoline dispensed in accordance with thevolume dispensed and a unit volume price established by the setting ofthe computing device.

It is aprimary aim of the present invention to provide a low costelectronic computing device for gasoline dispensing systems forcomputing the cost of gasoline dispensed.

It is another aim of the present invention to provide a new and improvedcomputing device for accumulating the product of a pro-establishedmultiplier and a second amount proportional to, for example, therotation of a rotary input.

It is a further aim of the present invention to provide a new andimproved electronic computing device for accumulating the product of apre-established multiple place multiplier and a second variable amount.

It is another aim of the present invention to provide a new and improvedcomputing device for multiple product fluid dispensing systems whichprovides for pre-establishing the unit volume price of each of the fluidproducts and which is adapted to be readily conditioned for computingthe cost of fluid dispensed in accordance with each of thepre-established unit volume prices.

It is a further aim of the present invention to provide a new andimproved electronic costcomputer for fluid dispensing apparatusemploying conventional and reliable logic components.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more indetail hereinafter. I

A better understanding of the invention will be obtained from thefollowing detailed description and the accompanying drawing of anillustrative application of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING M dispensing system incorporating anembodiment of the computing device of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now in detail to thedrawing wherein like parts are designated by like numerals, a multipleproduct gasoline dispensing system incorporating an embodiment of acomputing device of the present invention is shown comprising a pair ofmotor driven pumps 14 for delivering separate grades of gasoline to adispensing nozzle (not shown) via a pair of fuel meters 18, aproportioning valve and a pair of coaxial conduits 22, 24. The outputshafts of the meters 18 are connected to a summation differential 26 todrive suitable blend ratio gearing 28 in accordance with the totalamount of fuel dispensed. In a conventional manner the rotation ofoutput shaft 29 of blend gearing 28 is compared with the rotation of theoutput shaft 25 of one of the meters 18'by a subtraction differential 30to control the proportioning valve 20 and thereby establish the blendproportions in accordance with the setting of the blend gearing 28.

The output of the summation differential 26 is also suitably connectedfor driving a volume counter 32 for registering the total volume ofgasoline dispensed and to an input shaft 34 of a pulse generating device35. A cost register 36 having a counter or accumulator 37 and a costindicator 38 is connected to accumulate the cost of the fuel deliveredin accordance with the total volume dispensed and a unit volume price(within a three place price range of the computing device 10)established by the setting of the computing device. The counter 37 isshown comprising an input counting section 40 and four decade sections41-44 of increasing order, and the cost indicator 38 comprises four 0-9digit indicators 46-49 which are suitably connected via decoder-drivercircuits 58 to the decades 41-44 to provide a visual readout of thetotal cost of fuel delivered. Preferably the volume and cost counters32, 36 are resettable and are connected to be reset to 0 before thecommencement of each fuel delivery.

A product selector 62 having a rotatable selector knob 64 is providedfor selecting each of the available fuel productsfive products in theshown embodiment which for example may include each of the two separategrades of gasoline individually and three different blends of the twogrades of gasoline. The five position knob 64 is connected to the blendgearing 28 and proportioning valve 20 for setting the dispensing systemfor delivering the selected product. The product selector knob 64 isalso connected to operate a price selector switch 66 for conditioningthe computing device 10 to compute the cost in accordance with a unitvolume price preestablished for the selected product.

The computing device 10 comprises a bank 72 of three price decadeswitches 74 for each of the fuel products. For example, the priceswitches 74 may be BCD switches of the type shown and described in U. S.Pat. No. 3,445,636 of Joseph A. Richards entitled Single Wheel CounterCircuit" and having a number wheel 76 providing a numerical readout ofthe binary switch position and suitable means such as a push button 78for selectively setting the switch and number wheel. In a conventionalmanner the four output leads 83-86 of each binary switch have binaryvalues of 1, 2, 4 and 8 respectively such that for example lead 83 wouldbe energized when the number wheel 78 is set at l lead 84 would beenergized when the number wheel is set at 2", leads 83 and 84 would beenergized when the number wheel is set at 3 etc.

The banks 72 of price switches 74 are adapted to be set to pre-establishthe unit volume prices for the fuel products and the switch banks 72 areconnected to be individually activated by the price selector switch 66in accordance with the position of the product selector knob 64. Theswitch banks 72 are preferably mounted to provide a convenient visualindication of all of the pre-established prices for the fuel products.Also the active bank of price switches 74 is preferably suitablyindicated as by an index 88 mounted on a rack 89 and adapted to bepositioned by the selector knob 64 through bevel gearing 90 and gear 91.

The price switches 74 for each place of the three place unit volumeprice are connected in parallel and are suitably isolated, as by theprovision of diodes 92' in the output leads 83-86 of each switch 74, toprevent feedback through inactive switches such that the BCD signal inthe output leads 93-96 for each place of the three place unit volumeprice is dependent upon the setting of the corresponding active priceswitch 74.

A predetermining counter 130 is adapted to be preset in accordance withthe setting of each of the active price switches 74 by selectiveoperation of units control gate 132, tens control gate 134, andhundreds" control gate 136. The predetermining counter 130 is preferablya binary decade counter having four flip-flops 137 and is connected viaa suitable preset circuit 138 to be set at the binary complement of thebinary signal from the selected active price switch 74. Thus, if thebinary signal from the active hundreds price switch 74 is 0010 (i.e.,binary 2) the predetermining counter 130 will be preset at the binarycomplement of 0010 or 1101 when the hundreds" control gate 136 isoperated. Alternatively, a suitable price switch providing acomplementary binary signal of the switch setting could be used topreset the predetermining counter 130 directly.

An oscillator 150 is provided for generating stepping or clocking pulses(for example, at a frequency of KB), and a control gate 146 is providedfor connecting the oscillator 150 for simultaneously stepping or pulsingthe predetermining counter and the cost counter 37. The flip-flops 137of the predetermining counter 130 are connected via a suitablepredetermining logic circuit 152 to the control gate 146 fordisconnecting the oscillator when the binary counter 130 reaches itsfull capacity (i.e., l I II or binary l5 Thus, for example, when thehundreds" control gate 136 is operated to preset the predeterrniningcounter 130 at the complement of binary 2, the control gate 146 will be"opened" momentarily to provide for pulsing the predeterrnining counter130 and cost counter 37 two steps.

The predetermining counter 130 is therefore adapted to be cycled byoperation of each of the control gates 132, 134, 136 to add a count tothe cost counter 37 equal to the amount of the corresponding place ofthe established unit volume price.

The pulse generating device 35 has three output leads 160-162, one foreach place of the three place price range, for operating thecorresponding control gates 132, 134, 136. The pulse generating devicegenerates three separate pulse trains of noncoincident pulses in theoutput leads 160-162, and having numbers of pulses for each unit volume(e.g., 1 gallon) of gasoline delivered in accordance with the relativeweights of the corresponding places of the multiple place price rangeand therefore in the described embodiment in accordance with ageometrical progression having a common ratio of 10. For example, thepulse generating device provides for generating (a) five approximatelyequally spaced pulses (in the units lead 160) for each unit volume ofgasoline delivered, (b) 50 substantially equally spaced pulses in thetens lead 161 for each unit volume of gasoline delivered, and (c) 500substantially equally spaced pulses in the hundreds lead 162 for eachunit volume of gasoline delivereda total of 555 pulses for each unitvolume of gasoline delivered. Each units" pulse in lead 160 provides foroperating the units" control gate 132 to load the predetermining counter130 and thereby index the cost counter 37 a number of times equal to thesetting of the active units price switch 74. Such would occur times foreach unit volume of fuel delivered. Similarly each tens" pulse in thelead 161 provides for operating the tens control gate 134, and eachhundreds pulse in the lead 162 provides for operating the hundredscontrol gate 136 for respectively indexing the cost counter 37 a numberof times equal to the setting of the active tens" and hundreds priceswitches 74. The pulses in the three pulse trains are spaced and theresponse of the logic circuitry is suitably fast to permit each pulse toindex the cost counter 37 before the succeeding pulse is generated.Therefore, for a unit volume price setting of, for example, 25.9 (e.g.,25.9 cents per gallon) the cost counter 37 will be stepped 1295 timesfor each unit volume of fuel delivered (i.e., 500X2 +50 5 +5X9) and bepulsed an approximately pro rata number of times for any remainingportion of a unit volume delivered.

The pulse generating device 35 may, for example, comprise three separatepulse generators operated directly by the pulse generator input shaft 34to generate the three separate pulse trains. Alternatively, the inputshaft 34 may, for example, be

connected to generate a single pulse train and the pulse generatingdevice may be provided with suitable logic circuitry operated by thesingle pulse train to generate the three separate pulse trains. Also,the base" number of 5 units" pulses for each unit volume of fuel mayvary depending upon the accuracy desired.

The cost counter 37 is made suitably compatible with the pulsegenerating device 35 so that the indicator 38 is adapted to provide areadout of the actual cost of the fuel delivered to the desired place(e.g., tenths of a cent). Thus, using a base number of 5 units pulsesper gallon, a gasoline price of 25.9 cents per gallon and an indicator38 providing a readout to tenths of a cent, the input counting section40 of the cost counter 37 would provide for dividing the total number ofcounts by 5 so as to index the lowest order decade 41 one step for eachfive input pulses to the cost counter 37. The lowest order-decade 41 andindicator 38 would therefore be stepped I 259 times (i.e., 1,295/5) in0.001 or tenth cent increments to register an additional $0.259 (i.e.,the price per gallon) for each gallon of fuel delivered. The costindicator 38 therefore provides a readout of the total cost of gasolinedelivered in accordance with the volume of gasoline delivered and theunit volume price pre-established for the fluid product being delivered.

As will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, variousmodifications, adaptations and variations of the foregoing specificdisclosure can be made without departing from the teachings of thepresent invention.

lclaim:

1. In a computing device for a fluid dispensing system having a costaccumulator operable for accumulating the cost of fluid dispensed andsettable variating means connected for operating the cost accumulator inaccordance with the volume of fluid dispensed and a multiple place unitvolume price established by the setting of the variating means, theimprovement wherein the variating means comprises a pulse generatingdevice operable in accordance with the volume of fluid dispensed forproducing a plurality of separate pulse trains for the multiple placesrespectively of the multiple place unit volume price having fixedrelative numbers of pulses for each unit volume of fluid dispensed inaccordance with a geometric progression having a common ratio of 10,accumulator indexing means presettable for establishing the amount ofeach place of the multipleplace unit volume price and selectivelyoperable for producing a separate burst of pulses for each place of themultiple place unit volume price having a number of pulses correspondingto the established amount of such place, the indexing means beingconnected to be separately operated by each pulse train for repetitivelyproducing bursts of pulses for the respective place of the multipleplace price for indexing the accumulator with the bursts of pulses forrepetitively adding the established amount of the respectiveplace of themultiple place price in accordance with the number of pulses in suchpulse train.

2. In a computing device according to claim 1 wherein the indexing meanscomprises an electronic counter and circuit means selectively operableby each pulse train for setting the counter in accordance with theestablished amount of the respective place of the multiple place priceand for producing a burst of pulses for the respective place forindexing the counter from such setting to a predetermined setting andfor indexing the cost accumulator in accordance therewith for addingsuch amount to the accumulator.

3. In a computing device according to claim 2 wherein the electroniccounter is a binary counter and wherein the circuit means is selectivelyoperable for setting the counter at the binary complement of each of theestablished amounts of the multiple places of the multiple place unitvolume price.

4. In a computing device according to claim 2 wherein the circuit meanscomprises a pulse source and a control gate operable for connecting thepulse source for producing a burst of pulses for simultaneously indexingthe electronic counter and cost accumulator.

5. In a computing device according to claim 1 wherein the indexing meansis presettable for establishing a coded electrical signal for each placeof the multiple place unit volume price for establishing the amountthereof.

6. In a computing device according to claim 5 wherein the indexing meanscomprises a control gate for each place of the multiple place unitvolume price operable by the respective pulse train for connecting therespective coded electrical signal for indexing the accumulator with therespective burst of pulses for repetitively adding the establishedamount of the respective place of the unit volume price.

7. In a computing device for a fluid dispensing system having a costaccumulator operable for accumulating the cost of fluiddispensed, andsettable variating means connected to operate the cost accumulator inaccordance with the volume of fluid dispensed and a unit volume priceestablished by the setting of the variating means; the improvementwherein the variating means comprises unit volume price setting meanspresettable for establishing a plurality of separate coded electricalsignals of different relative weights for encoding amounts establishingthe unit volume price, and accumulator indexing means operable by eachcoded electrical signal for producing a separate burst of pulses havinga number of pulses operable in accordance with the volume of fluiddispensed for repetitively indexing the accumulator with the bursts ofpulses for repetitively adding the respective amount to the costaccumulator to increase the accumulated count in the cost accumulator inaccordance with the relative weight of the respective electrical signaland the volume of fluid dispensed.

" 8. In a computing device according to claim 7 wherein the accumulatorindexing means is operable for repetitively indexing the accumulatorwith bursts of pulses for each such amount for repetitively adding suchamount to the cost accumulator a number of times in accordance with therelative weight of the respective electrical signal and the volume offluid dispensed.

9. In a computing device according to claim 7 wherein the separate codedelectrical signals are binary coded electrical signals.

10. In a computing device according to claim 7 wherein the indexingmeans comprises a settable counter, control means for each of saidelectrical signals adapted to be repetitively operated in accordancewith the volume of fluid dispensed for connecting. the electrical signalfor setting the counter in accordance with the amount encoded therebyand stepping means for producing a burst of pulses for stepping thecounter and cost accumulator simultaneously until the counter reaches apredetermined count. I

11. In a computing device according to claim 7 wherein the codedelectrical signals have different relative weights in accordance with ageometric progression having a common ratio of 10 and the amountsencoded thereby establish the multiple places respectively of a multipleplace unit volume price.

1 2. A computing device for accumulating the product of a first'amountproportional to a first input and a pre-established multipliercomprising multiplier setting means for setting a plurality of separatecoded electrical signals of amounts of different relative weightscollectively establishing a multiplier, electrical pulse generatingmeans connected to be operated by the first input to generate aplurality of pulse trains for the plurality of coded signalsrespectively having fixed relative numbers of pulses corresponding tothe relative weights of the respective encoded amounts, a productaccumulator operable for accumulating a count of the product of thefirst amount and the established multiplier, and indexing means operableby each coded electrical signal for producing a separate burst of pulseshaving a number of pulses corresponding to the amount encoded by suchsignal and operable by each pulse train for indexing the costaccumulator with a burst of pulses for the respective electrical signalfor repetitively adding the amount established by each coded pricesignal to the product accumulator a number of times in accordance withthe number of pulses in the corresponding pulse train.

13. A computing device according to claim 12 wherein the indexing meanscomprises a settable counter, stepping means for producing a burst ofpulses for automatically stepping the counter from its set count to afinal count and for stepping the product accumulator the same number ofcounts, and

sequencing means operated by the pulse trains for repetitively settingthe counter in accordance with the amounts established by thecorresponding coded signals respectively.

14. A computing device according to claim 12 wherein the multipliersetting means comprises a plurality of separate decade switches ofincreasing order for setting separate coded electrical signals ofamounts of places of increasing order respectively of a multiple placemultiplier.

15. A computing device according to claim 12 wherein the multipliersetting means comprises a plurality of settable switches forrespectively setting a plurality of separate binary coded electricalsignals.

16. A computing device according to claim 12 wherein the amounts haverelative weights in accordance with a geometric progression. 5

17. A computing device according to claim 16 wherein the geometricprogression has a common ratio of 10.

18. In a computing device for a multiple product fluid dispensing systemhavin a cost accumulator ogerable for accumulatlng the cost 0 fluiddispensed, set ble variating means connected for operating the costaccumulator in accordance with the volume of fluid dispensedand a unitvolume price established by the setting of the variating means,presettable means presettable for programming the setting of thevariating means and therefore the unit volume price of each of the fluidproducts and setting means selectively operable for selectivelyconditioning the apparatus for dispensing the fluid products and forsetting the variating means and therefore the unit volume price inaccordance with the corresponding setting of the presettable means, theimprovement wherein the presettable means comprises a plurality ofencoders for the plurality of fluid products respectively each settablefor establishing a plurality of coded price signals of amounts ofdifferent relative weights collectively establishing a unit volumeprice, wherein the setting means is operable for selectively activatingthe encoders for establishing the unit volume price, and wherein thevariating means comprises accumulator indexing means operable by eachcoded price signal of the active encoder for producing a separate burstof pulses for each signal having a number of pulses corresponding to theamount encoded by such signal and operable in accordance with the volumeof fluid dispensed for repetitively producing such bursts of pulses andoperating the cost accumulator with such bursts of pulses forrepetitively adding a count corresponding to the amount encoded by suchprice signal for increasing the accumulated count in accordance with therelative weight of such amount and the volume of fluid dispensed.

19. In a computing device according to claim 18 wherein the accumulatorindexing means is operable by each coded price signal to produce a burstof pulses to operate the cost accumulator to add a count equal to theamount encoded by such price signal.

1. In a computing device for a fluid dispensing system having a costaccumulator operable for accumulating the cost of fluid dispensed andsettable variating means connected for operating the cost accumulator inaccordance with the volume of fluid dispensed and a multiple place unitvolume price established by the setting of the variating means, theimprovement wherein the variating means comprises a pulse generatingdevice operable in accordance with the volume of fluid dispensed forproducing a plurality of separate pulse trains for the multiple placesrespectively of the multiple place unit volume price having fixedrelative numbers of pulses for each unit volume of fluid dispensed inaccordance with a geometric progression having a common ratio of 10,accumulator indexing means presettable for establishing the amount ofeach place of the multiple place unit volume price and selectivelyoperable for producing a separate burst of pulses for each place of themultiple place unit volume price having a number of pulses correspondingto the established amount of such place, the indexing means beingconnected to be separately operated by each pulse train for repetitivelyproducing bursts of pulses for the respective place of the multipLeplace price for indexing the accumulator with the bursts of pulses forrepetitively adding the established amount of the respective place ofthe multiple place price in accordance with the number of pulses in suchpulse train.
 2. In a computing device according to claim 1 wherein theindexing means comprises an electronic counter and circuit meansselectively operable by each pulse train for setting the counter inaccordance with the established amount of the respective place of themultiple place price and for producing a burst of pulses for therespective place for indexing the counter from such setting to apredetermined setting and for indexing the cost accumulator inaccordance therewith for adding such amount to the accumulator.
 3. In acomputing device according to claim 2 wherein the electronic counter isa binary counter and wherein the circuit means is selectively operablefor setting the counter at the binary complement of each of theestablished amounts of the multiple places of the multiple place unitvolume price.
 4. In a computing device according to claim 2 wherein thecircuit means comprises a pulse source and a control gate operable forconnecting the pulse source for producing a burst of pulses forsimultaneously indexing the electronic counter and cost accumulator. 5.In a computing device according to claim 1 wherein the indexing means ispresettable for establishing a coded electrical signal for each place ofthe multiple place unit volume price for establishing the amountthereof.
 6. In a computing device according to claim 5 wherein theindexing means comprises a control gate for each place of the multipleplace unit volume price operable by the respective pulse train forconnecting the respective coded electrical signal for indexing theaccumulator with the respective burst of pulses for repetitively addingthe established amount of the respective place of the unit volume price.7. In a computing device for a fluid dispensing system having a costaccumulator operable for accumulating the cost of fluid dispensed, andsettable variating means connected to operate the cost accumulator inaccordance with the volume of fluid dispensed and a unit volume priceestablished by the setting of the variating means; the improvementwherein the variating means comprises unit volume price setting meanspresettable for establishing a plurality of separate coded electricalsignals of different relative weights for encoding amounts establishingthe unit volume price, and accumulator indexing means operable by eachcoded electrical signal for producing a separate burst of pulses havinga number of pulses corresponding to the amount encoded by such signaland operable in accordance with the volume of fluid dispensed forrepetitively indexing the accumulator with the bursts of pulses forrepetitively adding the respective amount to the cost accumulator toincrease the accumulated count in the cost accumulator in accordancewith the relative weight of the respective electrical signal and thevolume of fluid dispensed.
 8. In a computing device according to claim 7wherein the accumulator indexing means is operable for repetitivelyindexing the accumulator with bursts of pulses for each such amount forrepetitively adding such amount to the cost accumulator a number oftimes in accordance with the relative weight of the respectiveelectrical signal and the volume of fluid dispensed.
 9. In a computingdevice according to claim 7 wherein the separate coded electricalsignals are binary coded electrical signals.
 10. In a computing deviceaccording to claim 7 wherein the indexing means comprises a settablecounter, control means for each of said electrical signals adapted to berepetitively operated in accordance with the volume of fluid dispensedfor connecting the electrical signal for setting the counter inaccordance with the amount encoded thereby and stepping means forproducing a burst of pulses for stepping the counter and costaccumulator Simultaneously until the counter reaches a predeterminedcount.
 11. In a computing device according to claim 7 wherein the codedelectrical signals have different relative weights in accordance with ageometric progression having a common ratio of 10 and the amountsencoded thereby establish the multiple places respectively of a multipleplace unit volume price.
 12. A computing device for accumulating theproduct of a first amount proportional to a first input and apre-established multiplier comprising multiplier setting means forsetting a plurality of separate coded electrical signals of amounts ofdifferent relative weights collectively establishing a multiplier,electrical pulse generating means connected to be operated by the firstinput to generate a plurality of pulse trains for the plurality of codedsignals respectively having fixed relative numbers of pulsescorresponding to the relative weights of the respective encoded amounts,a product accumulator operable for accumulating a count of the productof the first amount and the established multiplier, and indexing meansoperable by each coded electrical signal for producing a separate burstof pulses having a number of pulses corresponding to the amount encodedby such signal and operable by each pulse train for indexing the costaccumulator with a burst of pulses for the respective electrical signalfor repetitively adding the amount established by each coded pricesignal to the product accumulator a number of times in accordance withthe number of pulses in the corresponding pulse train.
 13. A computingdevice according to claim 12 wherein the indexing means comprises asettable counter, stepping means for producing a burst of pulses forautomatically stepping the counter from its set count to a final countand for stepping the product accumulator the same number of counts, andsequencing means operated by the pulse trains for repetitively settingthe counter in accordance with the amounts established by thecorresponding coded signals respectively.
 14. A computing deviceaccording to claim 12 wherein the multiplier setting means comprises aplurality of separate decade switches of increasing order for settingseparate coded electrical signals of amounts of places of increasingorder respectively of a multiple place multiplier.
 15. A computingdevice according to claim 12 wherein the multiplier setting meanscomprises a plurality of settable switches for respectively setting aplurality of separate binary coded electrical signals.
 16. A computingdevice according to claim 12 wherein the amounts have relative weightsin accordance with a geometric progression.
 17. A computing deviceaccording to claim 16 wherein the geometric progression has a commonratio of
 10. 18. In a computing device for a multiple product fluiddispensing system having a cost accumulator operable for accumulatingthe cost of fluid dispensed, settable variating means connected foroperating the cost accumulator in accordance with the volume of fluiddispensed and a unit volume price established by the setting of thevariating means, presettable means presettable for programming thesetting of the variating means and therefore the unit volume price ofeach of the fluid products and setting means selectively operable forselectively conditioning the apparatus for dispensing the fluid productsand for setting the variating means and therefore the unit volume pricein accordance with the corresponding setting of the presettable means,the improvement wherein the presettable means comprises a plurality ofencoders for the plurality of fluid products respectively each settablefor establishing a plurality of coded price signals of amounts ofdifferent relative weights collectively establishing a unit volumeprice, wherein the setting means is operable for selectively activatingthe encoders for establishing the unit volume price, and wherein thevariating means comprises accumulator indexing means operable by eachcOded price signal of the active encoder for producing a separate burstof pulses for each signal having a number of pulses corresponding to theamount encoded by such signal and operable in accordance with the volumeof fluid dispensed for repetitively producing such bursts of pulses andoperating the cost accumulator with such bursts of pulses forrepetitively adding a count corresponding to the amount encoded by suchprice signal for increasing the accumulated count in accordance with therelative weight of such amount and the volume of fluid dispensed.
 19. Ina computing device according to claim 18 wherein the accumulatorindexing means is operable by each coded price signal to produce a burstof pulses to operate the cost accumulator to add a count equal to theamount encoded by such price signal.